Astrology is a science

I used to wonder how planets like Mars, Saturn, or Venus can affect our life.

Just like our Earth, they are planets circling around the Sun since many millions of years. They are located millions of kilometers away from Earth. How can they influence the outcome of one’s lifespan, marriage, education or economic condition?

On visiting astrologers, to my surprise, I found that their predictions about those whose horoscopes I put up before them, were correct, even thought they had not met them even once.

It seems that the horoscope of a person is the balance sheet of our past karmas which are going to fructify in this life, known as prarabdh karma. But where do planets come into the picture?

After reading a number of books on astrology, philosophy and yoga, I got the answer.

Karma is energy. Past karmas like prarabdh and sanchit (the sum total of karmas we have accumulated in all our lifetimes) karmas are like stored potential energies. These can be compared with electrical energy in a fully charged battery or the chemical energy stored in coal. Create proper conditions and energy starts manifesting. Make proper connections and battery starts delivering electricity. Ignite coal and it starts converting chemical energy into heat energy. Our scientists say that the whole world is a mass of energy, even what we call solids. Our thoughts are also energies. Planets are the triggers that help our karmic energies to be released. They convert potential energies into kinetic energies. Let us take a simple example. Imagine a jar having many small holes. It is filled with ice. It is kept near an open window. After some time sun rays start falling on this jar. It starts getting heated. After some time ice starts melting and water starts oozing out through small holes. Our past karmas, thoughts, deeds are stored in the form of sukshma potential energy. When certain planetary positions take place, the radiated energy from planets falls on our potential karmic energy. It is then released and sets off a course of action that bring us our karmas. Planets are karmphaldata (agents of karma). They are the media through which God ensures that we get the results of our karmas in due course of time. Each planet, each rasi and each nakshatra have their own vibrations and radiations. Their characteristics are very well given in books of astrology.

We can take another example. We can compare ourselves with a computer. Our hard disc (karan sharir) has a record of all past karmas, to which we add with our every thought, word and deed. Every individual computer is connected to the super computer of God which prepares a programe for every individual Jiva taking birth. The horoscope is like this computer programme.

The jiva takes rebirth at a time and place when a particular set of planetary positions are propitious for his it. This is true for all jivas. Hence, a good astrologer can give an outline of the life of a newborn child.

Critics of astrology object to the fact that the horoscope cannot say if a person is alive or dead, or whether it is the horoscope of a man or woman. These two things are not in the scope of astrology. No one claims it. No system of medicine can bring back a dead man to life. No system of medicine can cure each and every sickness with 100 per cent success. This does not mean that those systems are false or useless.

Sometimes predictions go wrong for several reasons. The horoscope is not correctly prepared or the time of birth is not recorded properly. To give accurate predictions, the astrologer has to make a deep study of the horoscope. He has to consider all yogas, dasas, navamans, and dashansh.

It is said that belief in astrology makes a person fatalistic. To some extent, it is true. However once we understand that it is our karmas that draw up our destiny and not the planets, the responsibility becomes ours. Astrology has many uses. Its first big advantage is that the astrologer acts as a psychologist. Mostly, people visit the astrologer when they are in trouble. They want to know why they suffer and for how long. Astrology can tell them that and also warn them to take precautions to reduce the impact. A person’s horoscope may indicate a period of bad health. Knowing this, if he takes extra care in choosing a proper diet, takes regular exercises and refrains from any type of addiction, he can have reasonably good health. Planets impel us. They do not compel us. To nullify or minimise the bad effects of planets, astrologers also suggest remedies such as wearing certain types of rings, or malas with certain gems. In some cases they recommend performing certain pujas, japam, or giving donations. How far these are useful is a matter to be studied and investigated. At times it may give the client some solace in the belief that bad luck will be reduced.